Voyageur Council Venturer Advisors’ Forum

Meeting Minutes for April 5, 2011

Scout Headquarters - National Boardroom

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Comments – Wally Gale

 

Wally called the meeting to order.  Thanked John Stalker for chairing the meeting for the last two months.

 

 

Past Activities

 

LaserQuest2 March 5-6  - Rideau Area Rover Crew

Went pretty well, going to adjust times for next year to avoid confusion.  Will start at 10:30.  As for this year, physical fitness forms in a sealed envelope will be required at the beginning of the night for future events.  There were between 65-70 participants out of 74 spots.

 

Winter Adventure February weekends – Allan Yates

Allan distributed refund cheques as required to those present.

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

VenClimb2 – April 16-17 – Christiaan Burchell

Two days of training at the local escarpment and likely one additional weeknight.  Not a lot of climbing – more learning how to set up a climb safely.  The goal is for participants to be able to carry out a climb alone without without an instructor.  As Christiaan’s time available for this course is extremely limited, plans are not written in stone.  Those  interested should contact Christiaan ASAP.  cjburchell@yahoo.com.  Limit is 8-10 youth.

[Update: course cancelled for now].

 

OPE Work Weekend April 29-May 1 – Tim Taylor

Registration is unfortunately closed.  More than 200 signed up and there isn’t enough work for more.  A waiting list is set up pending confirmation of numbers.  Registered groups are asked to provide ASAP their final numbers of youth and leaders, male and female to arrange accommodations.  Payment can be made at the Council office by Thursday April 21 please – cash, cheque or credit card. Task list will be sent out in a week or two.

 

Apple Hill Work Weekend  -  May 7-8 – John Dougherty

There is still lots of space – and there is no charge.  Three Venturer companies interested so far.  There is lots to be done.  Contact John Dougherty if interested.  Saturday lunch and dinner is provided.  No cabins so if you want to stay over it must be self contained.  There is some ground clearing and trail marking required as well as construction and maintenance of structures.

 

RSVP – May 6-8  – Neil Rice

2/3 full already, remember first come first served.  Camp is about lots of activities such as archery and low ropes.  Linking camp for senior Scouts, Venturers, Rovers as well as Guiding senior sections.  $20 includes camping and activities. OOS $15 and includes food.  Registration forms available on VAF website. Deadline is April 22^nd.

 

White Water Weekends – Bill Bowman

Quite a bit happening.  Adam Taylor is running the pre-training on the May 1 Sunday of the Ope Work Weekend (required for those who have signed up for Whitewater1).  Registration was slow during March, though it has picked up since the beginning of April.  The more advanced courses are filling up but there is still plenty of room for Whitewater 1 and 2.  Close of registration will be the next VAF meeting (May 3).  Registration is now open to groups outside of Voyageur Council. 

 

For those new to these weekends, WW1 is designed for beginners.  It can be used as a linking event with the Senior Scouts.  Prerequisite for WW1 is the Ope pre-training and lunch is available at Ope for $3.50 (free to Ope Work Weekend participants). Everyone planning to participate in the Pre-training must register for this in advance since equipment requirements must be sorted out.  WW2 is particularly recommended for those planning a White Water expedition as this will teach the skills necessary to make it a success.

Registration is available online for the following WhiteWater courses (existing registration numbers indicated):

            WhiteWater1 Canoe  -  May 27-29  - Petawawa River (29)

            WhiteWater3 Canoe  -  May 27-29  - Petawawa River (23)

            WhiteWater2 Canoe  -  Jun 3-5  - Madawaska River (32)

            WhiteWater1 Kayak  -  Jun 3-5  - Madawaska River (14)

            WhiteWater2 Kayak  -  Jun 3-5  - Madawaska River (2)

            Mini WhiteWater1 Canoe  -  Jun 3-5  - Madawaska River (12)

            (Follow the links for course specific information)

Volunteers are required to act as coordinators for each of the 6 courses (must be an attendee of the course) as well as for the WW2 shuttle.

The 7 Ope Whitewater canoes are confirmed available at $40 each (6 outfitted for whitewater). They will be brought to HQ and must be returned to HQ, and they are first come first served. The canoe trailer is not available for transport and participants would require their own throw ropes and paddles.

 

Phil Mondor Scholarships – Chris Majka

April 30 is the extended deadline. There are 4 500$ scholarships for youth members entering any year of post-secondary education (2 for service to the Council and 2 for service to Camp Ope).  Forms available online, can be submitted by hand at the Council office.

There are also several $1000 scholarships available nationally and the deadline is April 15^th.

Medal of the Maple is available for youth for significant service at Section/Council or National level - few submissions received for this award.

 

 

Reports

 

Service corps – Eugene Lavigne

The NCC presented a plaque to the Service Corps group as thank-you for 10 years of service.

Veterans Affairs also sent a letter of thanks for participation in the annual Candlelight Ceremony associated with Remembrance Day.

The Legion has asked Scouts/Venturers to participate in a parade for the Battle of the Atlantic on May 1.  It will take place at the Westboro Legion.  After the parade the youth are invited to join the vets for lunch downstairs.  There will be a lot of media coverage so please try to get as many youth out as possible.  Meet at 12:30 for the 1:00 pm parade in full uniform.

The May 1 CN Cycle for the Cure requests our help with registration. This is also an opportunity to hand out information about Scouting.  Meet at 8:30 am at the War Museum.

The June 25^th Teddybear Picnic requires Lost Children volunteers – 8:30 to 4 pm at the Governor General’s residence.  MedVent will be there also.

Contact Eugene to volunteer for these events <eugene_scouts@hotmail.com>

 

Joint Council  -  Jake and Brina

 

March event was a downtown area scavenger hunt March 26^th.  Only 4 people showed up.

 

April 17^th will be swimming at the Nepean Sportsplex 6:30-8:30 bring $3.

 

May camp May 20-23 long weekend (Friday-Monday). Cost is $35 for bus transportation or $30 for personal transport for those who register by the May JC meeting.  The cost will increase after that to $45/$40.

 

Saturday June 18^th – semi formal at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church.  Cost is $10 if you pre-register (email) or $12 if you arrive at the door unannounced.  Members are allowed to bring 1 guest.

 

The Phil Mondor scholarships will be presented at the June JC meeting.

 

JC is now meeting in the Cafeteria as the Buffam room upstairs is too small for the growing number of attendees. 48 youth in attendance at this meeting.

 

 

 

Training and Development

 

Woodbadge2 Feb 25-27, Mar 25-27  -  Mark Milan / Alex Gazaleh

Call of the Wild theme was well named – feedback from participants was very positive.  Great course and good trainers.  Thank-you to OPE crew for feeding everyone. Note that WB1 senior sections will be available online starting in the fall.

 

Outdoor skills April 16-17

Will take place at OPE in the orchard – Troup & Company level.

 

Wilderness 1st Responder March 5-6  -  Doug Proud

Recertification course took place at YMCA camp in Dunrobin.

12 obtained recertification.

 

Boat Rescue - John Stalker

Volunteers are required to run/help with the Boat Rescue and Basic Canoe courses – last two weekends in June.  John will handle paperwork

 

SYRP – Senior Youth Recruitment Presentations April 2 – Chris Majka

There were 4 youth in attendance – 2 Rovers & 2 Guides.  It was well received.  It will hopefully run again and a lot was learned by both sides.

http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2fYZGtSxanJ0%3d&tabid=1885

 

 

 

Other Business

 

RoVent 2011 Committee – 2^nd Tuesday of every month – Doug MacKinnon

Third meeting is coming up and there is still lots of room for additional help. Meeting starts at 7:30.  The RoVent theme has been chosen – Brave Heart.  Budget is yet to be set.  Council will handle the payments this year, which should make things a lot better for us.

 

ScoutCon11 – Saturday April 9 – Mike Jowett

Registration closed yesterday but there is still some room available for a few last minute sign-ups (pay onsite).  Conference is taking place at the collegiate in Smiths Falls.  The new uniform will be there.

 

Venturer Executive Development Project Team  -  Mike Jowett

All Scouting programs for all sections are up for review this coming year.  People are required to join the committee to redevelop the Venturer and/or other programs.  Volunteers should send an email to Council program staff to express interest.  No other action is expected before the fall.

 

Venturer Membership Exclusion – Mike Jowett

During the last conference call of Council Commissioners it was noted that Voyageur  was the only Council to submit suggestions about this issue.  It appears our submission will be sent to the national council to be submitted as a proposal for policy.

 

Rideau Canal Canoe Rally – John Dougharty

Rideau Canal Scouting canoe rally is proposed for the end of August / first weekend of September time frame.  Need people to help get it together. The day could consist of a paddle from Dow’s Lake to the NAC, barbecue and paddle back.  Contact John if interested in helping out.

 

Venturer Jamboree 2012

This Venturer Jamboree will take place in Haliburton Scout Reserve possibly in July and there will be room for 1000 participants.  High level plans call for an adventure race format with one day for each of canoeing, hiking, biking, geocaching and another team challenge. Camping access will be by canoe and include daily food pickup.  They are now looking for volunteers to serve as chair person, manager for the program and manager of transportation.

 

 

LaserQuest May 13-14 – Thomas Wittwer

 23^rd Nepean has booked LaserQuest lockdown as they were not able to participate in  LaserQuest  1 or 2 .  If anyone is interested in joining in e-mail hitman21@hotmail.ca or wittwer@sympatico.ca.  There is room for up to 65 and the cost is $40 each.

 

Next Meeting: Tuesday May 3, 2011 at 7:30 pm

 

The Chair for the Venturer Advisor Forum is Wally Gale at vafchair@rogers.com.  Please contact Wally for any notices to distribute or information of potential interest to the Voyageur VAF community.If you find any omissions or errors, please contact ……  Scouter Jocelyn Remus-Robinson at cascahawk@gmail.com or 613-592-4738

… and visit the VAF website for a goldmine of information, including present, past and future events  http://web.ncf.ca/ad554/